Differentiation of press durations with upper and lower limits on reinforced values

Rats received food following lever-press durations between t and t+t′ sec where t was 2, 4, or 8 sec and t′ was 0.25t, 0.50t, or 1.00t sec. Modal press durations were greater than t but less than t+t′ in all cases. Distributions of press durations were lower and broader for larger values of t. Lower t′/t ratios produced lower median press durations and relatively narrower press-duration distributions. Median press duration was a power function of t within a t′/t ratio condition, corresponding to previous results for latency, interresponse time, and response durations.     

关于医学专业精神的几个问题

职业与专业有所不同。医学专业精神基于医学专业的特点而产生,起着维护医学专业的社会责任和规范医疗行为的作用。医学专业的核心理念是病人健康利益高于一切,且具有历史的继承性与时代性的特点。医疗自治权的获得是医学专业形成和医学专业精神从自发走向自觉的标志。医学专业精神首先依赖医生的自律,但同时也需要来自外界的社会调控。     

Anticipatory anxiety and avoidance in panic disorder with agoraphobia

The present study utilized the responses of 34 patients with panic disorder with agoraphobia to investigate the occurrence and anticipation of panic attacks in relation to the avoidance of specific situations from the Fear Questionnaire [Marks & Mathews (1979) Behaviour Research and Therapy, 17, 263-267]. Results indicated that self-reports of avoidance of specific situations were often significantly correlated with the anticipation of panic but rarely with the occurrence of panic. The occurrence and anticipation of panic were also frequently associated with social phobic situations in addition to agoraphobic situations.     

Reinforcement rate and interresponse time differentiation

Reinforcement rate and differential reinforcement of IRTs were independently manipulated to assess their relative contribution to the control of interresponse times (IRTs). Modified percentile reinforcement schedules (Platt, 1973) allowed control of reinforcement rate while longest or shortest IRTs were selectively reinforced. In the absence of differential IRT reinforcement, mean IRT decreased with increasing reinforcement rate. Compared to this small effect of reinforcement rate, reinforcement of long IRTs produced large changes in mean IRT at constant reinforcement rates. No interaction of reinforcement rate and IRT reinforcement was detected. The demonstration of large IRT changes in the absence of reinforcement-rate changes indicates the precedence of IRT reinforcement over molar reinforcement-rate correlations in the determination of IRTs in these procedures.     

Rats' lever-press durations as psychophysical judgments of time

Hungry rats received food following lever-press durations exceeding a minimum value, which ranged from 0 to 6.4 sec. When no intertrial intervals separated successive presses, modal press durations remained at very short values as the minimum value required for food was increased. This was particularly true immediately after a food presentation. When an 8-sec intertrial interval followed each lever release, modal press durations were always at or beyond the minimum value required for food, and outcome of the preceding press had no effect on press duration. Possible reasons for the effects of intertrial intervals included punishment of short presses, increased delay of reinforcement of short presses, and reduced density of reinforcement. In addition, functions relating discrete-trials lever-press duration to minimum duration required for food were found to be qualitatively and quantitatively similar to the power functions recently proposed by Catania (1970) for interresponse time and response latency. This similarity was taken as support for a general psychophysical law of temporal judgments.     

Medication use and the assessment of agoraphobic avoidance

Many anxiety disorder patients who present for behaviour therapy are already taking anxiolytic medications. The present study added a new subscale to the Mobility Inventory labelled ‘Without Medication’ to assess possible reliance on medication for coping with phobic situations. 121 Patients with panic-related disorders were administered the scale. The results supported the reliability and validity of the existing Mobility Inventory subscales in general and of the new subscale in particular. It appears to reliably assess a clinically important domain that is not measured in traditional self-report measures of phobic avoidance.     

Suicidality,Self‐Harm,and Body Dissatisfaction in Transgender Adolescents and Emerging Adults with Gender Dysphoria

Prevalence of suicide attempts, self‐injurious behaviors, and associated psychosocial factors were examined in a clinical sample of transgender (TG) adolescents and emerging adults (n = 96). Twenty‐seven (30.3%) TG youth reported a history of at least one suicide attempt and 40 (41.8%) reported a history of self‐injurious behaviors. There was a higher frequency of suicide attempts in TG youth with a desire for weight change, and more female‐to‐male youth reported a history of suicide attempts and self‐harm behaviors than male‐to‐female youth. Findings indicate that this population is at a high risk for psychiatric comorbidities and life‐threatening behaviors.